Method for the qualitative improvement of the products of the tobacco plant

ABSTRACT

A method is disclosed for treating tobacco products to remove toxins emitted during smoking of tobacco which comprises the steps of:  
     (a) fabricating at least one tobacco product selected from the group which consists of cigarettes, cigars and pouch tobacco;  
     (b) packaging tobacco products as prepared in step (a) as commercial packages with the cigarettes being packaged as cigarette packs, the cigars being packaged in cigar packings and the pouch tobacco being packaged in pouches;  
     (c) placing a multiplicity of the packages formed in step (b) in a storage chamber at a tobacco storage temperature;  
     (d) while said packages are in said storage chamber, subjecting said packages and the tobacco therein to electromagnetic waves having a multiplicity of frequencies and having harmonics emitted from an antenna in said chamber at a power not less than 0.0001 mWatt, but without causing any substantial increase in the temperature of said tobacco products and for a period not exceeding a few hours but sufficient to reduce toxic emissions upon smoking of said tobacco products, said electromagnetic waves having a wavelength of 1 mm to 11,000 km; and  
     (e) pulsing the electromagnetic waves to which said tobacco products are subjected in step (d).

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application is a continuation of copending application10/070,020 filed 26 Feb. 2002 which is the U.S. National Phase ofPCT/GR00/00012 filed 7 Mar. 2000 and based upon European PatentApplication 99600015.4 itself filed 12 Oct. 1999 under the InternationalConvention.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The invention relates to a process for manufacturing productsderived from the tobacco plant, such as cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobaccoand tobacco in general. More specifically, the invention can be appliedduring the processing of the tobacco and/or during the production of itsproducts. The invention further relates to the improved tobacco productsobtained by the process.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] With the mass production of cigarettes following World War II,there was a large increase in the cases of lung cancer, mouth andpharyngeal cancer, cardiovascular diseases and, generally, serious andfatal diseases for the human organism. Soon, this fact was linked to theconsumption of tobacco products and especially of cigarettes, whichcontain a large number of toxic chemical substances, both in the solidphase of tobacco and in its gaseous phase. In the former, solid phase,before its burning (use), tobacco contains substances which are directlytoxic, for example, tar and nicotine. In the latter, gaseous phase,during its burning (use) more toxic substances are produced which areharmful to the human organism.

[0004] To counter this problem of the toxic substances which arecontained in and produced during the use of these products, there havebeen used in the last years various industrial products, such as the tarand nicotine-collecting filters of one or multiple uses, the commonconventional cigarette filters, as well as, recently, the biologicalcigarette filters, which, to date, provide the maximum possibleprotection from the toxic substances of the solid and gaseous phases oftobacco. This is the state of the art of today's technology. However,all these products attempt to limit the toxic action of the tobaccosubstances, by inhibiting toxicity during the smoking stage. To datethere exists no method or product to act on the toxic substancesthemselves of solid tobacco, limiting their toxic action, before the useof the product, that is, before the product reaches the consumer.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0005] It is the object of the invention to provide a solution to theabove mentioned problem by reducing the harmful effects of smoking, byqualitatively upgrading the tobacco products.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The present invention constitutes a method which acts on solidtobacco before its use by the consumer and can be applied either duringthe industrial processing of tobacco and the production of its finalproducts, or to the final products themselves (cigarette packs, cigarsand tobacco pouches). The present invention acts on the existing toxicsubstances, improving the quality of tobacco, so that the final productused by the consumer has fewer harmful effects on his health. Theinvention constitutes a new original method for the qualitativeimprovement of the industrial products of the tobacco plant. Thequalitative improvement is achieved by subjecting the industrialproducts of the tobacco plant to electromagnetic waves covering widewavelengths, which are produced by electromechanical or electronicdevices, the emission of which is preprogrammed, has controlled power,controlled application time and a controlled quality result.

[0007] The advantages of the present method is that it acts on the toxicsubstances themselves in solid tobacco and limits their toxic action,thus achieving a significant qualitative improvement in the industrialproducts of tobacco. Moreover, an extremely significant advantage ofthis method is that the improvement starts at the beginning of theapplication of the method, which its required application time for theachievement of substantial improvement is short, not more than a fewhours. Another advantage of this method is that is has wide industrialapplication and, moreover, it does not require changes in the workingspecifications of the existing industrial or manufacturing facilities,either during the stage of the processing of the tobacco or during thestage of the production of the final product (cigarette packs, cigarsand tobacco pouches). Another advantage of this method is that it is notonly applied during the processing stage of the tobacco and theindustrial manufacture of its final products, but it is also applieddirectly to the final product even after its packaging or while it is instorage areas, and it can also be put to household use. Anotheradvantage of the method is that for its application it is not necessaryfor the tobacco products or the electromechanical or electronic devicesto be stationary. Thus, the method can be applied on ships ortransportation containers, so that a qualitative improvement in thetreated tobacco products will have been achieved by the time they reachtheir destination. Another advantage of this method is that itsapplication is financially expedient, as it requires very lowoperational costs.

[0008] The invention is described below, with the aid of non-restrictiveexamples and with reference to the attached drawing, which illustratesone application form of the method which constitutes the object of thepresent invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0009] The drawing is a diagram which illustrates one application way ofthe invention, on final industrial tobacco products and final packagedones.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION

[0010] The invention is described with reference to the drawing. Thefinal industrial tobacco products are placed packaged in the storageareas or packaged in boxes, at the customary storage temperature. Anelectromechanical or electronic device of programmed operation is placednear to the tobacco products, which emits electromagnetic waves and fromwhich extends a tube which ends in their emitting antenna. The emittedelectromagnetic waves are directed towards the final industrial tobaccoproducts or towards the packaged tobacco products in the boxes. Theemitting antenna may constitute an integral part of the emitting deviceor be connected to it with a tube.

[0011] The electromechanical or electronic device produceselectromagnetic waves which cover wide wavelength ranges, from 1 mm to11,000 km, together with their harmonic frequencies, which are producedby the device and which are emitted either in all the wavelengths from 1mm to 11,000 km or in one or more parts of particular areas, so as toachieve a resonance of all the elements of tobacco. The ranges of thefrequencies to which these electromagnetic waves belong arecharacterized by the international names EHL (extremely highfrequencies), SHF (super high frequencies). UHF (ultra highfrequencies), VHF (very high frequencies), HF (high frequencies), MF(medium frequencies), LF (low frequencies), VLF (very low frequencies).The emission of the electromagnetic waves is programmed by theelectromechanical or electronic circuit of the device so as not to becontinuous but pulsatory. The length between the emitted pulses may beof constant or variable time. The length between the pauses of theemitted pulses may be of constant or variable time.

[0012] The emission of the electromagnetic waves may be modulated in anyway, or it may not be modulated at all.

[0013] The emission intensity of the electromagnetic waves increaseswith each increase in the distance between the source of the emission ofthe electromagnetic waves and the industrial tobacco products, or evenwith each increase of the volume of the industrial tobacco products, towhich the method is applied, in order to achieve the same qualitativeimprovement at the same time, as well as the reverse. Also, with eachincrease in the distance between the source of the emission of theelectromagnetic waves and the industrial tobacco products, or even witheach increase of the volume of the industrial tobacco products to whichthe method is applied, the application duration time of the method mustbe increased in order to achieve the same qualitative improvement withthe same intensity as well as the reverse.

[0014] Furthermore, there exists the possibility of electromagneticwaves being emitted from more than one device, simultaneously, in thesame place. The total simultaneous emission intensity provided mustalways be low, in order to achieve the desired result, but withoutcausing any substantial increase in the temperature of the industrialtobacco products to which the present method is applied, without theintensity descending below 0.0001 mWatt, whether one device is used ormore than one device.

[0015] The user of the method is able to decrease the time required forthe achievement of the selected level of qualitative improvement byincreasing the total simultaneous emission intensity provided by theelectromagnetic waves which must be maintained in low levels, so as notto cause a substantial increase in the temperature of the industrialtobacco products, as well as the reverse, but without the emissionintensity descending below 0.0001 mWatt.

[0016] The initiation of the qualitative improvement of the industrialtobacco products occurs with the initiation of the application of themethod, while the required application time for the occurrence of asubstantial improvement is short, not more than a few hours.

[0017] The duration period of the application of the method is dependenton the type of the industrial tobacco products to which the method isapplied and is proportional to the desired qualitative result. Thus, thelonger the duration period of the application of the method the greaterthe qualitative improvement of the industrial tobacco products to whichthe method is applied.

[0018] Also, the method may be applied even if between the source of thepulsatory emission of electromagnetic waves and the industrial tobaccoproducts there exist materials such as cardboard, wooden boxes, concreteand metals, with the exception of conductible materials which aregrounded.

[0019] The present method can be widely used by industries,manufacturing and commercial enterprises of tobacco products, andapplied either during the processing of the tobacco, or during themanufacture of the products, or even to the final tobacco products aftertheir packaging in the storage areas or they are packaged in boxes.

[0020] The method results in a substantial qualitative improvement inthe industrial tobacco products by countering the toxic effects of thetoxic substances in solid tobacco, thus achieving a significantqualitative improvement of the industrial tobacco products, so that thefinal product used by the consumer has fewer harmful effects on hishealth.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of treating tobacco products to removetoxins emitted during smoking of tobacco which comprises the steps of:(a) fabricating at least one tobacco product selected from the groupwhich consists of cigarettes, cigars and pouch tobacco; (b) packagingtobacco products as prepared in step (a) as commercial packages with thecigarettes being packaged as cigarette packs, the cigars being packagedin cigar packings and the pouch tobacco being packaged in pouches; (c)placing a multiplicity of the packages formed in step (b) in a storagechamber at a tobacco storage temperature; (d) while said packages are insaid storage chamber, subjecting said packages and the tobacco thereinto electromagnetic waves having a multiplicity of frequencies and havingharmonics emitted from an antenna in said chamber at a power not lessthan 0.0001 mWatt, but without causing any substantial increase in thetemperature of said tobacco products and for a period not exceeding afew hours but sufficient to reduce toxic emissions upon smoking of saidtobacco products, said electromagnetic waves having a wavelength of 1 mmto 11,000 km; and (e) pulsing the electromagnetic waves to which saidtobacco products are subjected in step (d).
 2. The method of treatingtobacco defined in claim 1 wherein the packaged tobacco product iscigarettes.
 3. The method of treating tobacco defined in claim 1 whereinthe packaged tobacco product is cigars.
 4. The method of treatingtobacco defined in claim 1 wherein the packaged tobacco product is pipetobacco in a pouch.
 5. The packaged tobacco product from which toxinshave been removed prepared according to the process defined in claim 1.